Lily Evans helps Sirius Black? A Tail of an Unknown Friendship
by PinkRoseKoolKat
Summary: Lily Evans has had a rough day, soon to be a ruff day when she discovers an injured black dog on her way back from Hagrid's Hut one night. She decides to help the poor creature, not knowing that it's a certain Marauder... Not a sequel to my first one, but there are a few tie-ins. Hope you like it! :) I don't own the story or characters, JK Rowling does!
1. Chapter 1

Lily and the Black Dog

Lily always enjoyed visiting Hagrid's hut when she could, he was very kind and he always seemed to know how to make the day happier when things looked bad. Today had been especially difficult, as Professor McGonagall gave them double the amount of homework than she usually gives them, and Potter and Black single-handedly managed to spill ink all over it as they wrestled on the Common Room floor. She glared at the two prats and stormed out of the room, unsure of where to go to get some peace and quiet to rewrite her homework. Finally, she settled on visiting Hagrid, who gladly said "Make y'rself at 'ome!", and he even put on some tea and cakes for them. She got so caught up in her work that she completely lost track of the time, and after thanking Hagrid profusely, she ran out the door before he could say "No trouble 't all!"

As she made her way back to the castle, she noticed that tonight was the Full Moon, which made her think of poor Remus, who she heard howling in the distance. She quickened her pace, but then she saw something dark flung over the hill, and rolled to her feet. She gasped, for she saw a black dog that had been bitten on the leg and scratched up. It was a medium-sized black, scruffy-looking dog, which would have been rather adorable if it weren't for its beaten appearance. It was unconscious, and Lily, fearing that the werewolf she heard in the distance might find it and finish it off, wrapped her robes around the poor dog, and carried him quickly back to her dormitory.

Thankfully she wasn't caught by any professors or fellow students as she carried the dog, who now whimpered a little, into her dormitory bathroom. She pulled the robes gently off the dog, who she decided to call Snuffles for now. As he awoke, he looked curiously at her, as if to say "How did I get here? What are you doing?" She smiled tearfully at the poor thing, and said to him "You're safe now, you were hurt pretty badly, but I'm going to patch you up, okay?" He nodded slowly at her and then fearfully looked to the bathroom window at the Moon. She wondered if Snuffles really understood what she said, but put it out of her mind as she got her First Aid kit (which she reminded herself to thank her Mum for later), and got to work. She grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in warm water and soap, and gently patted it over the wounds, which made Snuffles wince and whimper faintly. She looked at him sorrowfully, and whispered "sorry," and kept cleaning the wounds. Once the blood was wiped up, she carefully disinfected the cuts with a liquid that Muggles use to prevent infections, and bandaged them. His front leg had been bitten as well, and she remembered that animals aren't affected by werewolf bites, so she repeated the steps she had taken to clean the scratches, and was soon done tending Snuffles' wounds. "There you go sweetie," she said as she smiled at him, and he wagged his tail a little. "I know you want to get back outside, but it's just not an option right now, Snuffles. You need to rest here, at least until morning, okay?" she told him, and he looked sadly out the window again, but then looked to her and nodded.

Once she finished cleaning up the bathroom, she laid the blanket from her bed on the floor for Snuffles to sit on for now, and she dug through her trunk as quietly as she could, trying not to disturb her roommates' slumber. "Aha!" she whispered to herself as she pulled out her stash of food, which she intended to share with Snuffles, who's stomach she heard growl from across the room. She smiled as she beckoned him over, and he limped to the make-shift bed and made himself as comfortable as he could. She sat on the floor next to him, and pulled out of her bag an apple, a small knife, a package of her favorite biscuits, and a box of sugar quills. She split the apple with Snuffles, cutting it into bite-size pieces for him, and gave him a few of her biscuits. She ate the other half of her apple and a few biscuits herself, she only now realized how hungry she was, and after all she had missed dinner and only had some tea and a rather hard-to-eat cake at Hagrid's. After they finished their snack, and each had a sugar quill, she told him that she'd be right back, as she went to get ready for bed.

However, Snuffles was not just a black dog: He was actually Sirius Black in his Animagi form. He stared worriedly out the window, wondering how James and Peter were doing without him to control Remus in his wolfish form in the Shrieking Shack. He was bewildered on how Lily Evans found him, and was even more so startled at how she took it upon herself to care for him, even though she probably could have just either left him there or taken him to Madame Pomfrey. Maybe Evans wasn't so bad after all, in fact, when she wasn't yelling at him, she was rather kind. Maybe there was a reason Moony and Evans are such good friends. 'But how in Merlin's name did she come up with the name "Snuffles?"' he wondered to himself.

Ten minutes later, Lily came out of the bathroom, dressed in long red pajama pants and a grey form-fitted t-shirt, and her long red hair swept up in a ponytail. As she was about to crawl into her four-poster bed, she decided to have Snuffles sleep on the bed with her, it was probably much more comfortable than a thin blanket on the cold, hard floor. She didn't want him to jump up, so she picked him up and gently placed him on the bed, and then she crawled into the crimson covers. Snuffles, who didn't seem to argue with her decision, curled up next to her feet and stared at her. Lily stared back, and noticed that his eyes looked very familiar, they were unusually silvery grey, but she put that out of her mind for now, she had too many other matters to think about. She whispered to Snuffles "You should probably get some sleep; we have to get up early and visit a friend of mine in the Hospital Wing, okay? And don't you wander off when I'm asleep!" He looked at her with his head turned to the side when she said "Hospital Wing", and he wondered if it could be…no that's ridiculous, how could she possibly know about Moony? He nodded and fell asleep as Lily set her alarm for five o' clock. "Goodnight, Snuffles" she yawned as she turned to her side and waited for sleep to come.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Lily took a minute to get up after her alarm went off. She quickly turned off the alarm so her roommates wouldn't fuss and she stretched as she yawned. She smiled tiredly at Snuffles, and said quietly "Good morning, how do you feel?" He looked at her, and wagged his tail a little, hoping to send the signal that he was fine. She nodded, and as she got out of bed, she told him "Stay put, okay? I'm just going to go quickly shower and get dressed." He stared after her and then curled up back into a sleeping position, although he couldn't sleep. He wondered how his friends were, and he hoped they didn't worry about him having gone missing. Did Moony even know he was gone? Did Prongs tell Moony that he'd gone missing? How was he going to explain what happened last night to the rest of the Marauders? Along with all these questions buzzing around in his mind, he laid down his head as one more question popped into his mind: Who was this mysterious friend they were going to visit this morning? Surely it wasn't Moony…

About fifteen minutes later, Snuffles' ears perked up as he heard footsteps coming toward the bed. He lifted his head to see Lily coming to pick him up, and apparently carry him to the bathroom. She put him down on the small crimson rug on the floor of the bathroom, and told him "Before we go I'm going to put on new bandages, alright? Just as an extra precaution," He nodded, and she proceeded to gently take the bandages off, lightly clean up the dried blood with a wet washcloth, and wrap new bandages around his cuts and his front leg. As she finished, she patted his head, and asked him "Do you think you can walk alright?" He got up to see if he could actually walk, and surprisingly, he could, very slowly of course, and not putting any pressure on his front leg, but he could. She grinned, and they both left the bathroom and sneaked out of the dormitory.

As they made their way very slowly down the stairs to the Common Room, she nearly gasped when they reached the bottom of the stairs: James and Peter were sleeping on the couches. As she recovered from her mini-heart attack, she put her finger to her lips as to say "shhh" to Snuffles, and they walked very quietly past the two sleeping boys. She opened the portrait door as softly as she could, and she closed the door gently behind them. "Whew!" she said wiping her hand across her forehead as she looked to Snuffles, "That was close!" He offered a doggie smile and wagged his tail, and she smiled back. "Okay, I think it'd be best if I carried you down the staircases, they like to change, and I don't want to risk you getting left on one of them," she told Snuffles, who reluctantly nodded, and allowed her to carry him. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she put him down gently, and they walked down the corridor.

As they walked, she said to herself quietly "I hope that Remus is okay…" Snuffles heard her, and stopped in the middle of the corridor. He was shocked, 'Oh Merlin! She does know about Moony! He can't see me all injured like this, he'll really think he's a monster!' he thought to himself. She noticed he wasn't walking with her, and she turned around to him and said "Snuffles, are you alright? Oh, are you shy? It's okay, you'll like Remus, he's a very good friend!" She beckoned him over, and he walked very slowly over to her. She kneeled down to his level, and pet him as she said "You know, I've never had a dog before. But in the time that we've spent together, I realized how nice it is to have one. I've always wanted a dog or a cat, ever since I was a little girl." She paused, looked in his silver eyes, and continued "I'm glad I found you, probably not under the best circumstances, but it was nice to have a companion to talk to, and to keep my feet warm, and to share my secret stash of food with." She smiled, and Snuffles flashed a doggie smile and wagged his tail happily, he was truly touched by her words. He had never been treated with such kindness, except from the Marauders of course. His real family, the Blacks, was cold and heartless, never treated him with any respect, and never showed him the slightest bit that they cared. Evans kind of had a motherly aura about her, and he really appreciated that. She stood up, and they walked down the rest of the corridor to the Hospital Wing.

When she arrived in the Hospital Wing, she opened the door quietly, and peered inside to make sure that Madame Pomfrey wasn't there to shoo them out. When the coast was clear, they walked inside to find Remus fast asleep in his bed. Lily carefully lifted Snuffles onto the bed, and he curled up at Remus's feet as Lily sat next to Remus in a chair. As she got comfortable, she pulled out of her pocket a few bars of chocolate wrapped up neatly in a golden bow, and placed it on the nightstand next to his bed. She then looked at Remus, and noticed that his face had been scratched up, and his pale face looked etched in worry. She frowned as she gently brushed his bangs out of his face, and hoped that maybe hers and Snuffles company would help to put his mind at ease. She gently placed her hand on top of Remus's, and sighed as she lay back in her chair. She hoped that Remus wouldn't blame himself for Snuffles' injuries, after all he's not in his state of mind when he transforms into a werewolf. She thought about Snuffles, and wondered why he even went near the werewolf in the first place. Surely dogs knew to keep away from animals that intend to cause you harm? Maybe this dog wasn't the typical dog though, after all he had silver eyes (that oddly reminded her of someone...) which was unusual for a dog, and how many black dogs do you see running around? Her Divination teacher would have called it "The Grim", but Lily was never one to be superstitious, and he seemed like such a sweet dog. It's amazing how Snuffles didn't even try to bite her as she took him in last night, most dogs that grow up in the wild wouldn't let humans touch them, let alone carry them. As these thoughts buzzed around in her mind, she let sleep overtake her.

Remus woke with a start, as he had a nightmare that he was in his werewolf form, and had injured Sirius so gravely that he was somewhere on the grounds, lying dead. Lily jolted awake as Remus did, "Remus? What's the matter?" she asked him in concern. Remus looked at her, unsure if he should tell her or not, but then he felt something at his feet. He looked toward the end of his bed, and immediately felt relieved: he saw Sirius sleeping. Lily giggled softly, and said "I brought a friend, Snuffles, meet Remus Lupin." Snuffles looked up and wagged his tail at Remus, and Remus smiled, and then looked concerned as he wondered how Lily came across him. "Where did you find him?" he asked, and Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, Remus, I went to Hagrid's yesterday afternoon in search of a place quiet to work on my Transfiguration homework, and on my way back last night I saw Snuffles flung over the hill and he sort-of rolled down to my feet." He gasped, "Was he hurt badly? Oh Merlin! I could've killed him and you if you were any closer!" he felt tears stinging his eyes. Lily noticed and grasped his hand tightly, "Remus, no it's okay! I'm fine, see? And I took good care of Snuffles, he's fine now. He got bit on the leg, and had a few cuts, but I patched him up, and he's going to be alright," she said calmly. Remus looked at her astonished "Y-you took care of him?" he asked, and she said "I did! He was a good boy," she smiled and scratched Snuffles' ears. "I did it the Muggle way, and don't worry about the bite, as animals aren't affected by werewolf bites," she added hastily so he wouldn't panic. "Lily Evans you never cease to amaze me, you could have left him there or taken him to Madam Pomfrey!" Lily smiled, and said "Well I wasn't quite sure how to explain why I was out in the first place, and it would've been cruel to just leave him there! I actually enjoyed having a pet, even if it was just for a night." Remus nodded, but noticed that she looked sad as she stroked Snuffles' fur. "Lily, what's wrong?" Remus asked, and she replied "Well, Remus, I was thinking. He doesn't seem to have a home, and I'm not sure if my roommates would feel comfortable with Snuffles in the room. They're quite superstitious and might get a bit, well, uncomfortable if I kept him, so would you like to have him? I'm sure Potter, Black and Peter might like him, too." She smiled sadly at Remus, and he replied "Lily, are you sure? You seem so fond of him, and I don't want to take him from you!" She replied "I'm sure; I know you're the responsible one out of the group, so you'll take good care of him," he smiled at her, squeezed her hand, and said "Thank you," she looked at him with tears in her eyes, but said "No, thank you for giving him a good home," as she looked down at Snuffles. Snuffles turned his head to the side as she got up, and she kissed Remus on the cheek before saying, "I'm going to go get ready for the day" "And Snuffles I trust you will take good care of my friend here, right?" He wagged his tail happily, and she hugged him quickly before saying "Goodbye Snuffles, be good for Remus okay?" He nodded, and she quickly left before her tears fell.

Remus looked after Lily sadly as she quickly left; he knew she was on the verge of tears. She put her whole heart into the care of Snuffles, and he hoped that Sirius realized that. Remus looked at Sirius and said "You nearly gave me, James and Peter quite a heart attack last night, you know!" Sirius transformed back into a human, and said "Yeah, about that, mate..." before he could finish his sentence, James burst through the door, with Peter tailing him. "Padfoot! Where were you? We thought you were dead!" James exclaimed as he hugged Sirius and then grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him "How could you do this to me? I wouldn't be surprised if I had grey hair already! Merlin's beard! What happened to you mate?" Remus chuckled at the sight of James and Sirius before saying "I think we'd all like to know what happened last night, Padfoot." Sirius looked at all of them before settling on the bed next to Remus's and said "Alright, here's what happened,"


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, it all started after your transformation, Moony," said Sirius as he sighed and continued, "We transformed into our Animagi forms as well. Last night I guess your werewolf form got tired of being cooped up in the Shrieking Shack, because you got out," James and Peter nodded solemnly, and Remus immediately paled and started trembling. "It's okay, mate. It's not your fault," said James as put his hand on Remus's shoulder, noticing Remus's sudden loss of color. Sirius continued "After you got out, Prongs and I tried to get you back in, and then the next thing I knew we got into a brawl, and I was flying off the hill there," "But I managed to get you back in, Moony, it's okay!" said James, trying to calm Remus who was on the verge of tears. "I'm really sorry Sirius! See I knew it wasn't a good idea for you to do thi-" Remus started to say while tears streamed down his face, but Sirius cut him off, "Moony! It's okay! I'm alright now, see? Evans took care of it!" James and Peter looked shocked, "EVANS DID WHAT?" they said together, making Remus chuckle as he wiped his tears.

Sirius continued "Yeah Prongs, Evans took care of me when I was in my dog form, but she has no idea that that was me, so don't get your knickers in a twist." James' mouth dropped open, speechless, and Peter asked "Are you sure we're talking about the same Evans? Lily Evans?" Sirius said "Yes Wormtail, the usually infuriating red-head who has stolen our Prongs' heart." James' mouth was still agape as Peter's eyes widened, and then asked "What did she do?" Sirius said "Well, all I can remember was that she wrapped her robes around me and took me up to the castle somehow, she must've carried me, and the next thing I knew I was in her dormitory bathroom on the floor. She told me that I had gotten scratched up a bit, and that she was going to patch me up, which she did the Muggle way, she shared the little bit of food she had with me, and then she put me on her bed as she got in, and no Prongs I didn't see anything, so don't worry." He added quickly to avoid James' wrath, and looked to Remus who was smiling. "That was very kind of her, she could've just left you at the bottom of the hill, you know," said Remus, and Sirius offered a small smile, and said "Yeah, it was kind of nice to see a kinder side of Evans; I didn't know she had it in her!" Remus shook his head, smiling as James asked "So, how did you get here?" Sirius answered "Well after she got ready she put new bandages on me, we snuck past you two through the Common Room, we walked down the corridor and came here. She put me on Moony's bed, and we all kind of fell asleep!" Sirius finished, and James and Peter exclaimed "SHE KNOWS ABOUT MOONY?" Sirius looked to Remus and asked "Oh yeah, about that, how does she know about you?"

Remus sighed and said "Well, Lily has known for quite some time, she figured it out about a month before you lot did," James jumped to his feet and said "WHAT? Why didn't you tell us?" He looked stunned, and Sirius and Peter looked to Remus as well, both wondering the same thing. Remus said "It wasn't my story to tell, Lily has been a very good friend to me, and she's been there for me even when I felt like I had no one else in the world," He paused as he looked at their solemn faces. He sighed, and continued "She found me one night in our second year, I had been in the Hall alone, and I was a mess. I was struggling with keeping my secret, and she helped me. She took me into the Common Room, and after I calmed down a bit, she told me what she discovered. I thought for sure she was going to hate me, but she surprised me: she said she could never hate me. She said that it doesn't change the fact that I'm a wonderful person, and she was glad to call me her friend." James, Sirius and Peter all smiled softly, and Sirius said "Yeah, when I was a dog, she made me feel like I was actually a decent being, and you know how my family is," They all nodded, and Remus smiled softly as he continued "I don't think I ever felt more touched, but she continues to amaze me with her kindness: Every morning after the Full Moon, she gets up early just to sneak down here, sit in that chair next to my bed, places exactly three chocolate bars on my nightstand, and hold my hand until I wake up." Sirius nodded, "Yup, I witnessed it this morning, Evans is alright after all, when she's not yelling at me…" he said, and James grinned "Evans isn't just alright! She's bloody brilliant! She's an angel on earth" he sighed as he stared into space, probably thinking about said Evans. Remus chuckled, and then remembered something: Lily still thinks that Sirius really is a dog.

"Oh Merlin!" Remus exclaimed as he smacked his hand to his forehead. "What is it Moony?" asked Sirius, "We have a big problem: Lily still thinks you're a dog, and that I'm your new owner now!" Remus moaned. "What about Evans?" James said as he snapped out of his daydream. Remus sighed "Poor Lily, she gave up her chance of having a pet so I could be happy, and he's not even really a dog! I saw her crying as she gave you up this morning, Sirius, or, should I say, Snuffles." James frowned, but then joined Peter as he snickered at the name, and Sirius glared at them. "Where in Merlin's beard did she come up with that name? Well, you couldn't tell her it ran away?" Remus glared at Sirius "How can you be so ignorant! She took care of you! She grew attached to your Animagi form, and she gave up the happiness of having a pet just to make me feel better, and all you have to say is to tell her it "ran away"? That would be completely irresponsible!" Sirius bowed his head, like a child would when he know he did wrong: He realized how right Remus was, he was being completely selfish. Poor Evans was probably crying her eyes out right now, she gave up her own happiness for Moony's. Suddenly, a brilliant thought struck him. "Bollucks, you're right Moony. But I have an idea!" They all looked intrigued, and he explained his plan. "Are you sure this will work, Padfoot? If you break Lily's heart-," said Remus unsurely, and James cut him off as he glared at Sirius, "I will kill you!" Sirius grinned, "Don't worry, it will work, but if you and Evans ever get married, Prongs, you should tell her." James looked surprised, but nodded, and the rest of them agreed on the plan.

One week later…

Lily was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room one day, reading over her notes from Potions before she could start on her essay on the Liquid Luck. Suddenly a flash of black jumped on the couch next to her, and started licking her face. "Snuffles!" she cried joyfully as she laughed and hugged him "How are you feeling?" she asked. Snuffles looked at her and wagged his tail madly, as if hoping to say "Never better!" She grinned at him, and he plopped down next to her as she read over her notes, and stroked his fur. James, Remus and Peter all watched from a distance, smiling: Operation Snuffles was a success. Sirius decided that once every week or so he would become Snuffles on days when they knew Lily needed it, and they would continue to do this until after James proposed. When Lily found out, she burst into tears as she hugged Sirius and said softly "Thank you, Snuffles" Sirius smiled as he hugged her back, and said "No, thank you, Lily."

Epilogue:

In the summer before Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts, he and Sirius would keep in touch through owl, but Sirius needed a code name to ensure his true identity was not discovered. He had a hard time figuring out a good one, and finally, he had it: Snuffles. Sirius smiled as he was reminded of Lily, who's kindness and caring was never forgotten by him.


End file.
